featured blog posts

This Government believes that if you're open about problems as they arise and you tell people when things go wrong, then they will be more inclined to believe you when things are working and you want to talk about your achievements. Over time, being open builds trust.

When direct evidence emerges of a conspiracy stretching back years to blacklist trade unionists and prevent them from working, no inquiry is deemed necessary. When a few wealthy executives are reminded of the damage their decisions do to people's lives, it is apparently a gravely serious matter that demands urgent attention.

I have been part of many debates on gender diversity in corporate boardrooms. Although there is a long road ahead, one small step in the right direction is that the issue is now more firmly fixed in the minds of shareholders, employers and employees. And I hope events like last week will be a catalyst for greater interest and awareness of our public boards and equal appointments to them. It's a promising start that number of women taking up public appointments is increasing across Whitehall.

You only have to observe the trending topics on Twitter when political events like the Queen's Speech, a Budget or another major act of law is being debated in the Commons, to see how engaged the public is. Large organisations are already accessing this information.

Civil service mandarins have had a tough time recently. Many government ministers have seen civil servants as obstacles to their plans rather than team players and the media has taken Whitehall to task over pay, perks and benefits.

Let's be honest. Burma isn't the first country that comes to mind when one talks about open government. Yet despite its ongoing challenges, Burma has made huge strides towards reform and openness in the past few years.

The Tory-led government have broken their promise to deliver a more efficient and effective government. Time after time they have got the figures wrong, from the economy to their ICT strategy they have failed in basic arithmetic. The Tories evidently need a refresher course in adding and subtraction.

Despite a challenging fiscal situation, the current government has committed over a billion dollars of new funding to an office set up to promote cyber security. Like our American counterparts, we recognise that strong policy in this area is both a national security priority.

So what is Gov.uk? It is a single government domain and is the amalgamation of Directgov and Business Link (and very soon some of the hundreds of departmental sites that are not only sapping scarce government resources but also making it too hard for the user to find what they want).

Twelve months ago, the UK was one of eight national governments that founded the Open Government Partnership, a powerful new international organisation dedicated to the promotion of transparency and openness. Today, the UK is taking over as leading co-chair of the partnership, which now includes 57 member states or a third of the world's population.

Beneath the blue silk ties, Savile Row suits and faux bonhomie, tribal hatreds threaten to consume sections of the leadership of the Conservative party. Flashes of the venom occasionally spill over into the public domain.

Excuse after excuse, blunder after blunder from this irresponsible and incompetent Tory-led government. We have a part-time prime minister with a part-time Parliament who gives tax cuts to millionaires whist the millions pay more.

Francis Maude, the Minister for the Cabinet Office, is encouraging London's top financial firms to consider allowing their employees to work remotely during the Olympic Games, to alleviate potential transport problems and to ensure that London's businesses continue to function effectively throughout the summer.

Ever since Cameron won the party leadership over David Davis in 2005, he has tried vigorously to press home the point that in the eyes of so many people across the United Kingdom The Tory Party was the symbol of Mass Unemployment, Disregard for the vulnerable and strained relationships with ethnic minorities.

Talks resume this week between the fuel distributors and Unite the Union to avoid a petrol delivery strike. I bet Francis Maude can hardly suppress his anxiety as the prospect of a REAL strike actually gets closer.

About FRANCIS MAUDE

According to his webpage: "Francis Maude was appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General in May 2010. He is the Conservative MP for Horsham, west Sussex.
Francis studied at the University of Cambridge and The College of Law, specialising in criminal law.
He has held several government posts, including Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 1989 to 1990 and Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1990 to 1992.
While in opposition, he was Chairman of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2007 and, among other roles, Shadow Foreign Secretary from 2000 to 2001 and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office from 2007 to 2010.
After a career at the criminal bar between 1977 and 1985, he served as a councillor for the City of Westminster for 6 years. His other jobs outside politics have included being a non-executive director of ASDA Group, director at Salomon Brothers, and managing director of Morgan Stanley.
Francis is married with 5 children.
Source: www.gov.uk/government/people/francis-maude